In a somewhat slower day for corporate news, both Astral Foods and Raubex managed to please the market, by varying degrees, with their profit updates. In international news, Tesla is making progress in its bid to roll out self-driving software in China.

Construction, infrastructure and materials group Raubex flagged a between 15% and 25% increase in headline earnings per share for its year to end February but didn’t go into details in its brief statement. The group, valued at about R5.5 billion on the JSE, had said in early March that all of its divisions had received tender awards from a diversified client base, resulting in the group maintaining a solid order book despite the prevailing unfavourable macroeconomic conditions. It had booked headline earnings of about R707 million in 2023. Raubex lifted 1.3% on Monday and has risen by more than 13% in the past year.

SA’s largest poultry producer Astral Foods flagged a between 435% and 445% increase in headline earnings per share for its six months to end March, though it didn’t go into details in its brief update. In January, it had informed the market that profits were back in its first quarter, as lower stages of load shedding, a reduced diesel bill and the end of the fat chicken crisis helped it normalise its operations. The owner of brands including County Fair and Goldi had reported its first loss in its 23-year history in the year to end September, battered by a litany of crises, including SA’s worst-ever bird flu outbreak and record load shedding. It had booked headline earnings of about R62.7 million in its prior half-year, a sharp fall from about R546 million previously. Astral closed more than 5% higher but has still fallen 13% in the past year.